Friday, June 24, 2011

The June Prairie

The June prairie has a very distinctive look. The tall grasses are putting on a lot of leafy growth and have a bright blue-green blush. Hidden among the grasses are a multitude of plants just on the verge of blooming. The anticipation of the soon to arrive blooms is similar to the feeling I used to get as a child during the last days before Christmas.

Thanks to the abundant rainfall, there is an early show this year. Black-eyed Susans have bloomed in numbers far greater than normal. These plants normally behave as annuals or short-lived perennials. The right combination of weather conditions will stimulate germination of the seeds and create an uncommon abundance of plants.

This is our source of early color. Black-eyed Susans are quite common across their range and in some places are thought of as a slightly weedy plant. It’s odd that so many people equate abundance with weediness. Its numbers vary greatly from year-to-year at Blue Jay Barrens and I see it as another native species maintaining its presence in the community mix.

Besides color, it’s a major food producer on the prairie right now. This bee has picked up a nice load of pollen. Butterflies occasionally visit these flowers, but it’s mainly bees, flies and beetles that I find here. It makes me wonder if Black-eyed Susans are poor nectar producers.

Of course, the mark of a true native plant is its ability to sustain an abundance of animals with its various vegetative parts and still produce seed for future generations. Various herbivorous life forms will feast upon the flowers, petals, leaves, stems and roots of this plant. It may end the season as a pretty raggedy looking specimen, but it will still achieve its primary reproductive objective.

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ABOUT BLUE JAY BARRENS

Located in the Bluegrass region of Southern Ohio, Blue Jay Barrens contains excellent xeric habitat inhabited by a wide variety of rare native plant and animal species. Since 1985, this private property has been managed to improve the integrity of the special ecosystems found here. This blog provides information on the current activities at Blue Jay Barrens.

RESPONSE TO COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS BLOG

It’s my intent to share information on current events at Blue Jay Barrens. Unless otherwise noted in the text, all photos were taken by me at Blue Jay Barrens.

Plant scientific names are from Gleason and Cronquist 1991. I realize that some changes in preferred nomenclature have occurred, but this is the principle reference I have been using for flora identification. Knowing this, I believe most people can figure out just what plant I’m talking about.

My discussions of flora and fauna are not intended to be a complete life history. There are plenty of good references for this type of information. I am discussing my personal experiences with plants and animals on this specific property. Any other information I may provide is intended to help you understand the significance of my observations.

MY 3 FAVORITE NATURE BOOKS:

1- Of Mosquitoes, Moths and Mice, by C Brooke Worth.2- Mosquito Safari: A Naturalist in Southern Africa, by C Brooke Worth.3- A Naturalist in Trinidad, by C Brooke Worth.

MY 3 FAVORITE FICTION BOOKS:

1- The Witches of Karres by James H Schmitz2- The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham3- The Windhover Tapes (1st 3 volumes) by Warren Norwood

MY 3 FAVORITE MOVIES:

1- Vanishing Point 1971 with Barry Newman2- Flim Flam Man 1967 with George C Scott - also like the book by Guy Owens3- The Lathe Of Heaven 1979 with Bruce Davison - also like the book by Ursula K LeGuin

MY 3 FAVORITE TV SHOWS:

1- The Prisoner with Patrick McGoohan2- Fawlty Towers with John Cleese3- Kolchak: The Night Stalker with Darren McGavin